The 'Maiden'
by Trunks1
Summary: A strange parody of the fairy tale "The Nightingale". Featuring some Hotohori/Nuriko shonen-ai, as well as our favorite genius, Chiriko!


Author's Note: This story is really..strange. I changed a lot of stuff around, so it's not how  
"The Nightingale" really went.  
  
Warnings: Shonen-ai, slight Miaka bashing, Alternate Universe.  
  
  
  
The 'Maiden'  
  
by Trunks  
  
  
[A parody on "The Nightingale" by Hans Christian Anderson]  
  
  
  
Once upon a time, some time ago that no one remembers, there lived this really vain  
emperor. Now, this vain emperor was the emperor of China. And, since no mother in her  
right mind names her kid 'emperor', this emperor, of course, had a name. His name  
was Hotohori, but everyone called him 'your majesty', because he was rich and famous  
and they weren't.  
  
Okay, so maybe it was because they respected him, but who really cares?  
  
Anyway, the emperor's palace was the most beautiful in all of China (*cough* maybe  
because it  
was the only one in all of China). In the garden were the most beautiful flowers, which  
were  
loved by everyone. Well, it didn't really matter if they didn't like the flowers of not.  
After all, you just don't go up to the emperor of China and say "Your flowers really suck".   
Things just don't work that way.  
  
Now, the garden was really big. Even the lazy gardener didn't know where it ended. But,  
if you  
were adventurous, like most of the maids, that seemed to be disappearing, you would  
come to a lush forest.   
  
With great trees and deep blue lakes and all that other garbage.  
  
The forest then sloped down to the sea, which was also blue. After all, what kind of  
emperor   
would have water that wasn't perfect? Especially if he was vain..  
  
Anyway..  
  
There was a maiden whom loved to sing. Actually, she wasn't a maiden, but everyone  
was too awestruck by the melodies that they never thought to actually talk to the 'maiden'.  
In fact, the maiden was a man. A feminine man, but a man none-the-less.  
  
From all the countries, travelers came to listen to him sing. Then, when the travelers  
returned home, they ranted on and on about the wonderful singing to all their family and  
friends. Now, most people would think the young man would get tired of having people  
gawk  
at him only to hear him sing, but he probably never noticed them.  
  
The travelers wrote books about the town and all of the wonders it had to offer, which  
would  
probably end up making it a tourist resort, but they probably didn't care.  
  
Anyway, one of the books reached the emperor, whom was quite interested in reading  
about what  
others thought of his town. So, he read and read, but was quite surprised when he heard  
of  
this maiden that sung so beautifully.  
  
He hadn't heard of any maiden and he lived in the palace where she supposedly was!  
  
So, Hotohori called his first lord to him and showed him the book. But, his lord was also  
as clueless as the emperor and swore up and down that he had never heard the maiden  
sing.  
  
Well, the emperor was getting pretty frustrated, and heads were probably going to roll  
at any second, so he told his lord to go and find someone who did know the maiden.  
  
The lord ran up and down the palace, trying to find anyone that knew of the maiden that  
sang  
so beautifully.  
  
And, at last, they met a poor little boy in the kitchen, named Chiriko, whom knew where  
the  
maiden was that sang. Now, this little boy may have been poor, but he certainly wasn't as  
dense as the rest of the world. No, this little boy KNEW the maiden was actually a man,  
but,  
for the sake of making this story humorous, he played along.  
  
So, the lord ordered Chiriko to take them to the maiden. And, of course, Chiriko was  
more than  
happy to show them.  
  
It took several hours of walking, mostly because the lord was very impatient. But they,  
eventually,  
came to the end of the forest and to the sea.  
  
And, of course, there was the maiden (whom wasn't really a maiden, but everyone, besides  
Chiriko,  
thought he was). Now, since we can't be calling him a maiden, when he isn't really one,  
and just  
calling him 'he' and 'him' all the time isn't the right thing to do. So, his name is Nuriko.  
  
Now, when the lord heard Nuriko, he thought she sung beautifully and requested her  
presence   
at the palace, so that the emperor could hear her sing. And, naturally, Nuriko was flattered  
that the emperor would want to hear him sing, so he agreed.  
  
That night the whole court listened as he sang. And he sang so gloriously that tears came  
into  
Hotohori's eyes. Then Nuriko sang even more beautifully, and his song went straight to  
their  
hearts.  
  
Hotohori, however, fell in love with the maiden and requested that she stay at the palace.  
  
Nuriko was overjoyed and agreed, receiving his own room and anything else he might  
have ever  
wanted. But, what Nuriko loved most of all, was singing to Hotohori.  
  
Now, for a while, everything went well. Nuriko sang, the emperor continued to love 'her',  
and  
the court was overjoyed with the 'maiden'.  
  
But, one day, the emperor received a guest. She was a priestess and, although she wasn't  
as  
pretty or kind as Nuriko, the court thought she was very beautiful and everyone loved her.  
  
Well, actually, Hotohori really loved Nuriko more, but no one really listened to anything  
he  
said. After all, he was just the emperor.  
  
Nuriko was thrown out of the palace and, where he went, no one knows.  
  
Now, this priestess' name was Miaka, and Miaka also sang. No, she didn't sing well. On  
the  
first day, the windows in the palace cracked. On the second day, Chiriko invented  
earmuffs  
and went to live in the basement. And, on the third day, Hotohori became very ill.  
  
None of the people in the court cared that Miaka couldn't sing, because they were too  
entranced  
by her *cough* 'beauty'.  
  
So, realizing that the emperor must be dying of old age, even though he was in his early  
twenties, they ran off to find a new emperor.  
  
Hotohori, however, was terribly sad. He wanted to hear Nuriko sing, to bring him out of  
his  
illness, but Nuriko had been thrown out of the palace and probably hated Hotohori now.  
  
Miaka offered to sing to the emperor, but Hotohori declined her offer. It would probably  
just  
make him die faster.  
  
Anyway, one day, as Hotohori was lying in his bed, trying to sleep, he heard a voice that  
sounded so familiar.  
  
It was Nuriko! Nuriko had snuck into the palace and was singing for Hotohori. Some  
things   
never change..  
  
Anyway, the sight, and sound, of Nuriko made Hotohori feel so much better that he  
became  
unsick (...*looks at script* That's not even a word!...*grumble*). Hotohori begged  
Nuriko  
to marry him, knowing that he loved 'her' with all of his heart.  
  
"But, your majesty, I'm not a woman," Nuriko explained, although wasn't quite sure why  
no  
one had picked up on this information already. After all, he wasn't dressed in female   
clothes anymore. Oh well..  
  
Hotohori shrugged it off, "So, we'll adopt an heir."  
  
And, with that detail fixed and their love lives patched up, the two were now quite   
happy.   
Nuriko was probably going to butcher Miaka, but that's another story.  
  
"You sleep and get strong again, Hotohori. I will sing you a lullaby," Nuriko said, and, as  
he sang, the emperor fell into a deep, calm sleep.  
  
And, as things usually go, they lived very happy. They adopted Chiriko as their son,  
although  
no one really knows why, and were quite happy.  
  
As for Miaka, she was kicked out of the palace and wasn't heard from again. Which  
everyone  
thanked Nuriko for, because they really couldn't stand her singing at all.  
  
  
The End.  
  
_______________________________  
  
Actually, I don't think Miaka sings bad at all. But, for the sake of this story, she suddenly  
caught a throat virus and couldn't sing well. Bummer.  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
